Efficacy and safety of erlotinib combined with bevacizumab in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a poor prognosis despite conventional treatments of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors acting on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have shown high efficacy and low toxicity for NSCLC. In particular, combining erlotinib with the VEGF antibody bevacizumab has therapeutic value in NSCLC, but the drugs' separate effects as monotherapy and any adverse outcomes of combination therapy remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy and safety of erlotinib and bevacizumab for NSCLC, we conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched using keywords and manual review. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTIONS: We reviewed randomized controlled trials on the use of erlotinib combined with bevacizumab in adult patients with NSCLC, including data on outcome measures of overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and adverse events. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: After quality assessment, datasets were evaluated for heterogeneity. In the event of significant heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used to assess the overall outcome measures as a result of treatments. Subgroup analysis was conducted to evaluate the source of heterogeneity on PFS. RESULTS: Compared with erlotinib or bevacizumab alone, the combined treatment did not significantly prolong OS (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.84-1.11; P = .62) or increase the ORR (95% CI = 0.91-1.20; P = .52), but significantly improved PFS (95% CI = 0.58-0.73; P < .001). This improvement was especially notable in patients with the following characteristics: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status score of 0 or 1, female, no smoking history, adenocarcinoma, and EGFR Exon19 deletion or Exon21 Leu858Arg mutation. Combination therapy significantly increased incidence of grade 1-2 hypertension (20.3% vs 6.3%, 95% CI 1.73-5.88; P < .01) and severe diarrhea (10% vs 3.2%, 95% CI 1.36-6.60; P = .01). LIMITATIONS: The low number of available randomized controlled trials could influence interpretation. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with erlotinib or bevacizumab monotherapy, their combination effectively prolongs PFS but increases incidence of adverse events in NSCLC patients.

A Rapid Method for Antigen-Specific Hybridoma Clone Isolation.

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and limited dilution methods to screen and clone antigen-specific hybridoma cells is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. This work features a simple and rapid cell surface fluorescence immunosorbent assay (CSFIA), designed for the detection and isolation of antigen-specific hybridoma clones. In this assay, antigens are first anchored to the hybridoma cell surface through a dual-functioning molecular Oleyl-PEG4000-NHS. Specific antibodies secreted from hybridoma cells are then captured by the antigens on the cell surface. Positive hybridoma cells are stained using a fluorescently labeled anti-mouse IgG-Fc antibody. After the addition of a methylcellulose semisolid medium, positive clones are easily picked using a pipet. These positive cell clones can be used to produce monoclonal antibodies after direct expansion. Using this method, positive hybridoma clones against both malachite green and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus are selected with high efficiency. Compared to the ELISA-based method, the CSFIA-based method achieved the capability of isolating >2-fold more hybridoma clones in <25% of the corresponding processing time. In brief, the CSFIA-based method is highly efficient and inexpensive with a simple and direct operation, which is an excellent candidate method for antigen-specific positive clone isolation in a monoclonal antibody preparation.

Optimization of pump efficiency of Er(3+)-Ce(3+)doped telluride fiber amplifier.

We propose a simplified numerical model to simulate the erbium/cerium codoped telluride fiber amplifier, and the feasibility of this model is verified by comparing the numerical results with the experiment data. Based on this numerical model, the research of the erbium/cerium codoping concentration and fiber length indicates that 45?dB gain can be achieved at a pump power of 130?mW for a 15?cm length telluride fiber.